If you enjoy online social networking tools such as Facebook or MySpace, you may welcome a new USPTO pilot program for an internal online networking tool to allow examiners to share examination tips and information via text, pictures, videos and more.
The agency plans to launch a pilot for its online Examiner Collaboration Center (ExCC) in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2009. The agency and POPA negotiated employees’ rights surrounding the impact and implementation of the pilot and signed an agreement on June 2, 2009.
The pilot will be limited initially to up to 100 randomly selected examiners across all grades in workgroups 2410, 2420 and 2430. Program participation is entirely voluntary; any examiner invited into the ExCC pilot can decline with no negative repercussions. Should the pilot be well-accepted and not adversely impact employees and/or USPTO network performance, POPA and the agency will look at expanding the pilot to more examiners.
The agency intends for examiners to be able to share examination information via pictures, videos, messages, wikis, blogs and other media. The USPTO expects participating examiners to self-monitor their posted content and to adhere to the USPTO Rules of the Road Services Guide.
POPA warns all employees, participating in the pilot program or otherwise, to always adhere to these rules. Failure to do so can result in disciplinary action. Always use professional judgment when using a government-owned computer for communicating any messages or surfing/researching on the Internet. Posting or viewing objectionable material can result in disciplinary actions including termination.
Examiners who agree to participate in the ExCC pilot will receive an information packet and one hour of non-examining time to learn how to use ExCC. Participants must maintain at least a fully successful performance rating and not have been disciplined for electronic communications issues within the past 12 months. Participants may be asked for feedback on the program before, during or after the pilot. For research and evaluation purposes, participants will be identified only by grade, signatory authority and workgroup.
The idea for the ExCC originated with the Patent Public Advisory Committee (PPAC), a group of nine appointed, private sector advisors as well as a representative from each of the three USPTO employee unions. The PPAC advises USPTO management on patent matters and makes an annual report to the president and Congress on USPTO issues.